By Patrick Omorodion

I didn’t want to bog readers with the news that yours sincerely was appointed into the Board of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF as one of the Stakeholders of the game but something has necessitated it hence I am writing on it today.

The National Sports Commission, NSC, at the expiration of the tenure of the Sports Association Boards decided to reconstitute them to drive sports to the next level, especially having them make an impact at the Rio 2016 Olympics in the face of the seeming poor results recorded at the last Games hosted in London last year.

Among the 11 members of the new NBBF Board is yours sincerely who was invited to be part of the elections which held last Tuesday at the Abuja National Stadium. I got to the Stadium, duly did the accreditation and waited for  the  go-ahead to be given to proceed to the voting area.

However, before I got to Abuja, I never knew who were on the Board except one Musa Kida who my friend and colleague, whose name  I will not mention here, said was gunning for the position of president of the NBBF. I’ve heard the name before as one of the ex players who supported the game but I never knew he worked in an oil company.

My friend wanted me to vote for him since I was one of the delegates because as an oil company worker, he would help bring sponsors for the game from the oil sector. I told him I will decide on who to vote for when I get to Abuja. And must have listened to whoever was offering himself for election.

I got to know when I arrived Abuja that Tijani Umar, the incumbent president who got back on the Board through the zones was contesting and naturally I picked interest in his candidature, not because he was someone I have known over the years as a basketball faithful but as someone who has performed in the last four years and had received commendations from the sports governing body in the country, the NSC and needed to consolidate on the gains recorded so far.

Olumide Oyedeji (C) of Nigeria scores against Dominican Republic, during their Pre-Olympic basketball game in Caracas on July 8, 2012. Nigeria won 88-73 and qualifies for London 2012 Olympic Games. AFP PHOTO

Voting time came and we sat to listen to the electoral officer, Dr Muazu, a director in the NSC. Dr Muazu had hardly finished speaking on the modalities for the voting exercise when one of the delegates, Oguche Mark, who I heard is related to the Senate President, David Mark, stood up and queried the constitution of the new Board.

He wanted to know why some people he never knew from Adam could be appointed into the Board and wanted also to know what stake I hold in basketball. When he finished, Kida took over and said the election process was flawed and as a  result would not be free and fair. He said he was not willing to take part anymore.

At that stage, Mark wanted the process to stop but Dr Muazu told him he should not walk out but put his protest down in writing and that a panel in-charge of  such protests would look into it. Another aggrieved member, Osita Nwachukwu almost assaulted Dr Muazu, stressing that he was covering a fraudulent process and in fact told the sports medicine director that he, Osita, had been in sports longer than him.

At that stage, Dr Muazu brought out a protest form for the group which also included Babs Ogunade, representing South West on the Board and Mark took it and the quartet walked out of the election ground.

While outside they argued that while real stakeholders like retired Col Sam Amedu were left out of the Board, a common journalist was nominated. They said several things about the whole process, I was told, but it didn’t stop Umar  from returning as the NBBF president.

Mark,  I’m told, is in his 30s. Osita I don’t know  but he doesn’t look 40. When  I started journalism in 1990, both Mark and Osita were definitely still teenagers and so may not really know where I am coming from.

I started covering  the NBBF when U.K. Umar and Gyang Buba were presidents  and  I was a stakeholder then but now that I have been called to help in the administration, I am no longer a stakeholder, to these ex players.

I don’t want to say anything about Col. Amedu who has been and still remains a friend. He has  a  lot of stake in basketball  but I don’t want to believe that he too, like Kida, Osita and Mark, is querying my involve-ment in basketball.

I want him to know that there is always another time and that time could be his to mount the saddle. He should join hands with the new board to help move basketball  to the next level so that when it reaches his turn, he will be supported too.

For Kida, Osita and Mark, they should know that they are no longer players who come before journalists in the ranking of stakeholders of the various sports. Like FIFA, IAAF and others, FIBA recognises the role of the media and accords them that respect.

Nobody, not even the Kidas, Ositas and Marks of this world, would distract me from contributing my little quota to taking basketball in Nigeria to the next level. Because the interest of the game is bigger than any of us, I’ll advise them to team up with the Tijani Umar-led Board and help basketball in their own way.